Athirathram at Panjal

After 12 days of chanting mantras and peforming Homam, rain lashed the Kerala village, as the Vedic fire ritual ended yesterday.

I could see the black clouds hovering around 0600 PM at Trichur. I was aware of the Athirathram which concluded yesterday.

Along with virtue, Athirathram is the age old Fire Festival which will bring in rains and good harvest. Inevitably, there is rain on the last day everytime it is performed,
after the Yaga Shala is set on fire and yesterday again it was proved to be true.

In 1975, Frits Staal, Indologist and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and South/Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley documented the ritual in a two-volume Vedic treatise -- "Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar".

200,000 people had assembled at the Yaga Shala and they erupted into thunderous applause as rain fell.

Fritz Staal thanked the scholars for sharing their knowledge.

The venue was selected based on geographic and Vaasthu principles. The Yagashala is uniquely positioned to imbibe the Solar Energy , which has made Panjal the venue for key Yagas in Kerala in the past.

Staal, 81, , watched the proceedings from behind an enclosure. "Not much has changed. The ritual is alive and well. But it is a real pleasure to be back to Thrissur." said he.

A team from Harvard University led by professor Micheal Witzel is also studying the Sama Vedic chants. "It is one of the oldest living Vedic traditions and has not changed much," Witzel said.